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Color Options from American Patchwork & Quilting December 2011

We know you love the quilt projects that appear in American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. We took inspiration from projects in the magazine and created Web-exclusive versions, complete with full instructions as well as staff color options.

Jolly Holiday Color Options

By simply switching to wallpaper-inspired cottons from The Good Life collection by Wooster & Prince Papers for Robert Kaufman, quilt tester Laura Boehnke created a seasonless pair of sophisticated pillows.

Jolly Holiday Staff Color Option

Executive editor Jennifer Keltner utilized a portion of the pleated pillow and the Kumari Garden collection by Dena Designs for FreeSpirit to dress up a purchased 25"-wide tea towel. To embellish your own towel, cut a 5-1/2x26" band and a 2-1/2x48-1/2" strip. Hem short edges and one long edge of strip with 1/4" double-fold hems. Form 15 pleats in the strip and attach pleated strip to towel 2-1/4" from lower edge. Press all edges of the band under 1/2" and position band on towel, covering raw edges of pleats; topstitch band in place. Stitch a few parallel lines on the band to secure it for laundering.

Harvest Table Color Option

Floral Strips Log Cabin Quilt

Quilt tester Laura Boehnke trimmed large-scale florals and geometric prints from the Happy Together Corduroy collection from Timeless Treasures Fabrics into strips to create a playful Log Cabin quilt. For best results, cut strips for the blocks lengthwise (with the wale of the corduroy parallel to each strip’s long edge).

Harvest Table Staff Color Option

In each Log Cabin block in her 27x13-1/2" pillow, assistant editor Jody Sanders used the same five prints from Karen Tusinski’s Gallery Fiori collection for P&B Textiles. One block radiates from brown out to red, while the other radiates from red to brown. She finished the pillow top by adding a 14" square and 7-1/4x14" rectangle of larger-scale prints to the pair of blocks.

Crossing Point Staff Color Option

Using Mrs. March’s Basic collection from Lecien, design director Nancy Wiles stitched a knitting needle roll-up. To construct the outside of the roll-up, she layered a Cross and Crown block with batting and dark tan print 14-1/2" squares. For the pockets (which will hold knitting and crochet needles up to 14" long), she sewed a half block to a 6-1/2x14-1/2" lining rectangle, then pressed it open so the seam is at the top of the half block. She positioned the half block on the layered outside, lining up raw edges. She quilted 1-1/2" apart through all layers to create pockets, then she added a tie and bound the edges.

Wrapped in Red Staff Color Option

Big Block Table Runner

To feature a large novelty print, such as the Fruit Punch collection from Timeless Treasures, replace block centers with 12-1/2" squares. Surround three blocks with a border of more rectangle units and 2-1/2" squares for a 20-1/2x52-1/2" table runner.

Henny Penny Color Option

Hen and Flowers Wall Hanging

Instead of freezer paper and wool, quilt tester Laura Boehnke used fusible web and coordinating fabrics from Blank Quilting, including from the Calista collection, to create a wall-hanging version of Henny Penny. While the quilt still has folk art flair, Laura amped up the color palette with tone-on-tones, stripes, and dots that add depth to the farmyard scene.

Henny Penny Color Option

Graphic designer Jann Williams appliquéd Henny Penny motifs to a pieced wool 4-1/2x9-1/2" rectangle, then embellished it with beads, rickrack, and stem, fly, and couching stitches. She sewed the adorned rectangle to a backing rectangle, turned the unit right side out, and stuffed it with a same-size muslin insert filled with crushed walnut shells for a gift-ready pincushion.

Henny Penny Staff Color Option

Editor Jill Abeloe Mead needle-turn-appliquéd a batik and shot cotton chicken to a 17" square of Mad for Madras—a two-sided cotton fabric woven to look like patchwork—from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. She wrapped the background fabric around a 13" square frame made from stretcher bars (available at art supply stores) and attached it with a staple gun for a funky chicken wall hanging.

Contrasting Cabins Color Option

Light and Dark Log Cabin Quilt

Using fabrics from the Bittersweet collection by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex, quilt tester Laura Boehnke rotated her finished blocks to create an alternate version of the Light and Dark setting. Centers in a berry hue give a nod to the red centers of traditional Log Cabin blocks.

Contrasting Cabins Staff Color Option

Log Cabin Tote Bag

Design director Nancy Wiles cut scrappy strips from assorted Bali Batiks from Hoffman California Fabrics to make two mirror-image Log Cabin blocks. She featured one block on each side of her pieced handbag, adding two extra 1-1/2x12-1/2" strips at the bottom of each block to allow for the bag’s depth. A wide band (cut 3" wide) at the bag top and matching handles incorporate both of the colors used in the blocks.

Seasonal Stitches Staff Color Option

The whimsical animals on these Japanese prints from Toy Poodle by Kinkame for Clothworks inspired interactive editor Lisa Schumacher to create easy-sew baby bibs. After fusing solid-color A and B bird shapes to the bib top, Lisa satin-stitched around them with variegated thread and drew eyes with a permanent fabric marker. She sewed together the bib front and a coordinating solid color bib back with batting in between.

Seasonal Stitches Staff Color Option

Graphic designer Maggie Goldsmith went no-sew to create a fun, seasonal garland. Using heavyweight fusible web, she fused together two matching blue print 4" squares, then used a light box to trace patterns E and M on the fused rectangles. After cutting them out, she cut a slit in the center of each and strung them on braided baker’s twine.

String of Lanterns Color Option

Stacked Lanterns Log Cabin Quilt

String of Lanterns gets a garden makeover when made in florals from the Moonlit Sonata collection by Paintbrush Studio for Fabri-Quilt. Quilt tester Laura Boehnke chose a bold floral print for the outer border to draw attention to the flowerlike shapes in the quilt center.

String of Lanterns Staff Color Option

For a cozy reversible scarf, graphic designer Jann Williams utilized two flannel collections—Winter Four All Seasons and Tic Tac—by Kim Schaefer for Andover Fabrics. One side features eight Log Cabin blocks, while the other features a fussy-cut snowman print.

Mourning Glory Color Option

Batik Patches Quilt

To stay true to Mourning Glory’s scrappy roots, quilt tester Laura Boehnke used dozens of batiks in a rainbow palette from the Batik Paradise collection by Connecting Threads for her 25-Patch blocks. After randomly placing lights and darks in the 25-Patch blocks, she brought in a little order by using just two batiks in each Nine-Patch block.

Mourning Glory Staff Color Option

To fashion the tops of her stylish oven mitts, assistant art director Elizabeth Stumbo stitched together four 25-Patch blocks and cut two oven mitt shapes from the patchwork. She interlined the oven mitts using layers of cotton batting and heat-resistant batting. Unpieced backs show off larger sections of the prints, which are from the Bazaar Style and Bohemian Soul collections by Patricia Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics.